Check Mate
by JoeBoBean
Summary: Snow never got a chance to say how she felt and just watched him walk away. However even after so many months she still wants him to know with a desperation that scares her and the others around her. It is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. When she then hears of a man out on the edge of the kingdom that sounds familiar she rides out to meet her destiny.
1. Prologue

Eric would never admit it, but he hated walking away from her. If he had thought it was hard the first time when he had only known her a few days. This time it was agony. He could feel her eyes on him begging him to stay, but knowing better than to try and tame him. She knew he could not be bridled to the palace. It wasn't his world, she was back in her rightful place and he was not sorry for it.

She had asked him to stay of course; but she hadn't pushed the issue and for that he was grateful. If she had pleaded with her wide brown eyes he would have crumbled, he would have given in, he would have agreed to stay and he would have become miserable. Outside he had a horse saddled and ready to take him where ever he wanted to go.

The Queen had come through and had paid him the more than the money she owed even though he had tried to tell her no. She had insisted that she had to pay her debt in full. Eric thought she had more than done that already, but her soft hands and wide pleading eyes had convinced him to take the money if only to stop her looking at him like that.

He watched as she was crowned; watched as the weight of the Kingdom was placed securely on her head. Like the chain mail before it; the crown looked good on her. He bowed to his new Queen to show his undying loyalty and left the cathedral convincing himself that he didn't see her lips tremble or her hands shake as the roar of the crowd drowned out the silence. She was better without him, she deserved better and it was apparent to even him that William was madly in love with her.

More than anything else he wanted her to be happy and he knew that her happiness would bloom without him around; he still carried the stench of death and the anger of the lost. He was not the man to stand next to life itself. He would only sully her beauty and dim her light. He got on to his horse in the empty and silent courtyard and rode out of the Palace in silence and never looked back.


	2. Chapter One

The wind ran fingers through her hair as the gleaming white mere surged under her; it had been almost a year since she ascended to the throne and finally things were starting to look up for the Kingdom. As she rode home towards the Palace walls it felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She leaned forward in to Ragnfridr's mane and spurred the mere on across the sand with the water splashing her face from the speed of the animal. As always William wasn't far behind letting her win as per usual. Clearly fearing the wrath of his Queen should he chose to beat her. Snow wouldn't have minded if he had raced ahead she wasn't racing him anyway. Little did William know, but Snow was racing Eric across the sands; he was riding next to her on a large black stallion that she liked to call Adahy not that she knew why. He was smiling at her as he had after she had awoken. It was soft, tender and full of light; his eyes were not the blurred storm tossed blue-grey they had been when they had first met, but the clear grey like filtered moonlight as they had been the day of the battle and when he had finally left her where she was supposed to be.

She had realised in the days after the coronation that he was not just one man. She had thought when he had turned away, he was everything. She knew she shouldn't become attached, but she couldn't help herself. He had made her who she was; before she had met Eric she didn't think she could accomplish anything; after all she was just one girl. However simply being in his company had made her everything she needed to be to beat Ravenna. For that she was grateful beyond all measure. When he had left the palace for only the God's knew where, she had tried to find him. She had tried to track him down; if only to see him one more time, but he had vanished from the face of the earth as if he had never existed.

People had kept asking when she and William would marry. She knew there was only so much longer she could wait before she would have to do as her people wanted and expected.

When she reached the portcullis she knew Eric would vanish as he always did. He never made it through the gates with her, because even in her head the palace was no place for him. It would never be a place that would make him happy even if she was inside the surrounding walls with him. He was vital made of dirt and tree bark; he was never supposed to be surrounded by four high walls made of mortar and stone.

When she reached the stable she vaulted off her horse and made her way to the throne room where she would report in on what had happened at the meeting between her, William and a village elder that lived on the out skirts of the Dark forest. She had been surprised at how successful the meeting had been as she was still so very new to the world of delegations. However the old man had seemed impressed that she rode in with just one other person and not a hoard.

She had made it known what she was planning to do with the Kingdom and how he and his people would be affected. He listened with the intent of a man that took everything that was said to him to heart and when Snow had finished he nodded and told her that unlike the Dark Queen as Ravenna was now dubbed he would accept the terms. Snow White would help rebuild his village that had been pillaged and damaged during the war, but the elder had to understand that she would be resettling some of the refugees there. The talks and then the plans for the new village had gone over smoothly with William letting Snow talk while he stood and watched her. He always watched her. She still wished with all her heart that she felt for him as he did for her or that she felt for him in the way that would make others happy, but she didn't and she had told him as such.

He was her oldest friend and in her mind he was still the boy who taunted her and teased her while they climbed trees and chased each other in the court yard. When she had told him his hazel eyes for a second had become cold and hard and he had asked,

"Is there someone else?" When Snow's face fell he knew without words who the other person was and Snow remembered him gritting his teeth in a way that screamed "Why him?" louder than any words ever could. He had eventually accepted it since he knew that she and the Huntsman could never be together, but it didn't stop him watching her.

When she entered the throne room the first person she saw was Duke Hammond her advisor and he made his way across the large stone expanse towards her; his arms outstretched to envelope her in a warm embrace. He did it after she returned from whatever new errand she felt she needed to run. She didn't want to be a figure head that sat on the throne, but never lifted a finger to help her people; she wanted to fight back the darkness as she had that day when she rode to the palace walls with Eric next to her. She wanted to feel as if she was making a difference.

The duke held her tight and she could smell the incense on his robes from the palace chapel where he prayed daily. His prayers were that of thanks to the Gods for finally delivering them all safely from the darkness and also asking that Snow be strong enough to right the wrongs that had befallen the land now under her command. Some parts of Snow's mind thought she should be insulted by this; had she not proved her strength over and over again to everyone? Mainly she was happy that the Duke who had lost his religion and hope had found it once again.

"My child how was the talks?" He asked when he dropped his arms from her frame.

"They went the way we hoped, I will send the workmen and six families." She said with a smile, "How many refugees does that leave us with after that?" she asked rubbing her forehead trying to think of the numbers.

"A lot less than we started with," William replied with a grin. Snow smiled, the thought should have made her feel better, but after seeing Eric again on the sand she couldn't think of the others, she wanted a moment to herself to be selfish and only think of him.

When she had been in the tower she had only though of William and what their love would have been like as they grew up, if he was still alive and if she ever got free; she would still have chased him everywhere until she had reached the age where he would have chased her because of her beauty. They would have been betrothed at the age of eighteen and married at the age of twenty-one, then they would have had children until she had born an heir to the throne; who could rise without contestation. It was all painted out in her mind; it was perfect she had loved imagining the wedding or the moment when William had started chasing her instead of the other way around. She had never thought of anything else and since she never thought she was leaving the tower, it was an innocent but ultimately naive dream.

She had realised this when she met him again as happy and excited as she was to see him there was no want in her to be his bride. They had both changed and there was no way of getting back to that moment where her innocence trumped everything else.

"My Queen?" A voice asked and Snow snapped out of her reverie looking in to the Duke's concerned eyes, "My Queen what ails you?" he asked and Snow smiled softly, she could not tell him it were a broken heart, because he desperately wanted her to marry his son, instead she shook her head a little to clear the image of Eric at their first meeting.

"It is nothing Duke I am just a little tired." She replied a light smile on her lips to reassure the older man.

"Well I shall leave you in peace." He said and walked out of the throne room. That's when she saw them. Anna, Greta and Rose stood together against one of the large windows. They were talking in hushed voices as if they were trying to keep the secrets of the universe to themselves. She approached them with William as always just two steps behind.

"Ladies," He said and the trio turned with the widest smiles on their faces, and they looked at Snow nodding. Her heart leapt in her chest, it couldn't be; they couldn't have found him.

"Excuse us William," she said turning to him for a second, "But I need a moment with these women." William nodded knowing when he wasn't wanted, turned on his heel and stalked off across the throne room. Snow turned back to her friends with the empty space in her gut slowly being filled.

"Where is he?" she asked softly not wanting other courtiers to hear them. Anna was the first one to speak as Rose took Snow's hand in hers squeezing it slightly.

"I have heard talk of a widower with a lot of money settling down, but twenty miles from here where the coast meets the mountain forests. It's said that he was in the wars, but has decided that the quiet life suits him better." She then took Snow's other hand and shook it, "I don't know if it is him for sure, but it wouldn't hurt to look. When is your next ride my Queen?" The words got stuck in her throat as she tried to respond, he was so close and she never even knew.

"This afternoon." She finally replied when the words would come out.

"Good," Rose said and her frizzy hair bounced in joy, "The sooner the better."

"What if he isn't there? Or he doesn't want to see me?" she asked suddenly filled with fear,

"If the latter is the case he is far stupider than I thought he was," Anna answered her softly. "Go to him and find out." Snow looked in to the bright eyes of her friends and squeezed their hands in return; she had never thought this day would come.

_AN: I decided that having the book version of Greta (Rose) and actual Greta was better than Snow only having two people in the court that were on her side, even if Greta does not speak._

_The names of the horses are also very important._

_Ragnfridr is old Norse for "Wise and Beautiful" and Adahy is the Cherokee for "Lives in the Woods"_


	3. Chapter Two

When the time for her afternoon ride arrived she sprinted to the stable and was impatiently tapping her foot as the stable boy saddled Ragnfridr. She wanted to be out riding not waiting to be allowed. She had come to a begrudged agreement with the Duke that each day she had a few hours to herself that she spent riding across her land. Both William and the Duke hated the idea of the Queen being out on her own, but since everywhere she went she brought life and sunlight, she didn't think that she needed guards. If she was robbed or hurt, she would know she was not doing enough and would redouble her efforts until all was healed across the whole Kingdom. She had fought the pair tooth and nail until they had allowed her the time to be on her own to think in a place other than her bed chamber when the day was done.

When the stable boy was finally finished she leapt on to the back of her mere without a hand up and rode out of the portcullis and on to the beach with purpose she was going to find this widower and find out if it was her Huntsman, her Eric, her everything. The waves racing towards the beach splashed up from Ragnfridr's hooves soaking the hem of her gown, but she paid it no mind. Eric had seen her in a worse state. A little mud, sand and water were not going to make that much difference. She followed the coastline as Rose and Anna had told her to until she could see the thick forest darkening the horizon and she turned inland a little way. She had been riding for over an hour and finally she saw it a small hatched farmhouse on the edge of the forest no less than a mile from the steep drop of the cliffs. As she approached she slowed not wanting to startle the occupant of the farmhouse if it wasn't Eric who resided there.

"Hello?" she called out as she reached the side of the farmhouse, "Please is anyone there, my horse has thrown a shoe and I would be grateful if I could let her rest in your stables if that is all right." She jumped off her horse and led Ragnfridr to the stable on the other side of the farmhouse where only silence reigned; maybe Rose and Anna had got the wrong farmhouse; it wasn't as if Snow had pressed either of them for their supposed source. She pushed the stable door open and saw a black stallion in the corner stall. As she looked at him it was the strangest thing she could almost be sure that she knew that horse, she led Ragnfridr to the stall next to the stallion's and he turned to her his dark eyes hidden in his mane,

"Adahy," she whispered and he whinnied at her bringing his head forward to touch hers lightly, "You are far more majestic in real life." She said as she ran her hand over his neck feeling the power that resided just beneath the surface, in many ways he was just like Eric.

"If you were planning on stealing my horse I wouldn't advise it little girl, he is not to be toyed with." The voice made her jump, but when she realised who it was she felt a heady mix of joy and love. After all this time she had found him and as always he had been right under her nose. She turned from his horse and looked to the man stood in the doorway of the stable. She couldn't help it her heart thundered in her chest and she could feel the colour rise in her cheeks. His face blanched for a second and Snow became worried,

"It really is you." He whispered only half believing his words, "I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but no you are really here." Snow felt a cold rush and then thought what if he had spent the last year just drinking in his farmhouse, could she really talk sense to him then? But she needn't have worried as he quickly closed the gap between them and she could see his eyes were clear and there was no stumble in his step. He cupped her face in his callused hands as if to confirm she was real. "It really is you Snow." He said his face breaking in to the tenderest of smiles. At the use of her given name her stomach did a little flip flop and the colour on her cheeks rose higher. She leant in to his touch and felt it melt her to her very soul; it was the warmest she had felt in months. He dropped his hands from her face and grabbed her hand pulling her out of the stable.

"How is it that you are here?" he asked as he pushed open the door to the farmhouse.

"I came to find you." She stated feeling the answer was rather obvious. He turned to her his brow furrowed.

"Why?" his lack of concern for himself made her bristle.

"You left on the day of my coronation and didn't tell me where you were going, you never wrote to tell me you were alright. I have spent this last year trying to find you praying you weren't dead in a ditch somewhere or sat in some tavern drinking away all the gold you were forced to take. I wanted to know you were all right... I wanted to see if you were happy." Her voice faltered on the last line and Eric caught it; he looked down at her ring finger and saw it was absent of any form of attachment. He had thought that she would have married William by now or at least been betrothed to the wet faced whelp. It seemed that this was not the case. Could he dare to hope?

He had been sat whittling his most recent chess piece for an old man in the hamlet two miles from his farmhouse when he had heard her voice. He knew who it was straight away, but he hadn't dared to believe it. He didn't get all the news from the palace as far removed from the world as he was, but he knew that his Queen had rose to the occasion and was pulling the world they inhabited out of the darkness. He knew she was busy so why would she be out here twenty miles from the palace at the farmhouse of a common Huntsman?

Curiosity though had gotten the better of him and hearing the visitor enter the stable he followed them and saw a girl at least five years his junior petting Adahy his stallion, her raven black hair cascading down her back like an ebony waterfall, her blood red gown hugging her delicate frame making her look as breakable as china. When she had turned at the sound of his voice and he had seen her face he could barely believe it her wide brown eyes stared at him as her rose red lips opened slightly to draw in a deep breath. She was perfect like a porcelain doll; her creamy white skin now freckled across the bridge of her nose from her time in the open air. He saw her pupils dilate and the flush rise in her cheeks and he didn't know if it was because she was caught red handed or from the joy that he could see dancing behind her eyes. Whatever the cause it only made her lovelier and for the first time in months he would admit it; as much as he would always love Sara he had fallen in love with Snow White and he was not ashamed of it.

"I'm happy." He replied finally and Snow let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, "Would you like anything? I can only imagine that you rode here from the palace." She shook her head not wanting to inconvenience him. He smiled again and moved over to the stove placing a large black kettle on the flame. "Please sit." He said motioning to one of the chairs at the small table. She did as he asked and slid in to the chair picking up the figure that was laid on top of all the wood shavings. She turned the figure in her hands smoothing over the edges following the way he had carved the item with such care.

"It's a knight is it not?" she asked as she placed it back on the table, Eric looked at her and nodded.

"It's a commission." He said with a shrug placing a large trunk on the table and opening it for her. She stood up to look inside to see all of the other chess pieces from the set. The King was Triton the old God of the sea with his tail wrapped around the base; in one hand he had his trident that pointed outward to the invisible opponent across the board and in the other his conch shell partially raised to his lips, the detail was exquisite and Snow realised that Eric could still continually surprise her. She took in all the other pieces that were lying in the trunk with a mixture of his tools; the Queen was a figure head from the bow of a ship her hands out to the heavens her long hair lost in the wood and her eyes beseeching the Gods for what Snow could only think was safe passage. The rooks were lighthouses; that had once stood majestically on the cliffs, but were now no more than a memory to most of the inhabitants of the Kingdom. It was the Bishop that had her confused, it looked to be a man his legs lost in the stand of the piece his arms crossed at his chest a Tricorne perched on his head. His clothes were studded with what looked like pock marks until Snow picked up the piece and looked closer at it and realised they were barnacles like the ones that marred the cliff face next to the Palace, his beard was made of plaited seaweed and his eyes were shrewd and blank; his mouth turned up in a sneer. She looked up at Eric still holding the piece,

"I know he is the Bishop, but who is he?" she asked as she sat down again a pawn in the opposite hand to the Bishop. The pawn was a small fishing boat and Eric had made sixteen replicates of the one she was holding one in honey coloured wood the other in the darkest wood she had ever seen and knew from her father's stories that it was Ironwood.

Eric poured the water that had boiled in to a large pot and brought it to the table with two earthenware mugs and sat down.

"There is a legend in these parts, mainly old wives tales and navy men's superstition that there was once a ship that ran aground not far from the palace near the rock labyrinth. All the men on the ship were lost, but it's said before the captain died the God of the sea gave him the choice, if he would transport the lost souls of the sea to the underworld his crew would find peace. So being the benevolent man that he was he took that burden and freed his men." Snow watched as his face darkened a little, but whatever morose idea that passed through his mind was gone as quickly as he had thought of it. Snow placed the lovingly crafted pieces back on the table and spoke up,

"It's beautiful." She murmured, "I never thought that such rough hands could create something so delicate," she finished laughing in spite of herself. Eric grinned and poured the tea in to the large mugs passing her one,

"I wasn't always such a brute my Queen." He told her taking a swig of his tea, Snow sipped at the hot liquid letting it slide down her throat and warm her from the inside. "When I was younger and my father was teaching me how to hunt he taught me how to find the beauty in the wood when we were waiting for the prey. Some days we were tracking for days and days; the time would drag so I learnt pretty fast how to occupy my time." He took another swig of his tea and put the mug on the table picking up the piece and his knife taking it to the wood and peeling away another layer from the mane. Snow watched him as he turned the wood carefully between his fingers his eyes fixed on the piece before him. She had never seen him so still and peaceful, but as much as she thought it would unnerve her to see him this way it didn't. If she hadn't seen him in battle swinging his hatchets she wouldn't have believed it was even possible that were two distinctly different sides to this man.

She looked back at the Bishop and realised that his mouth was not set in a sneer, but was set in a way that showed he was a man determined to do what he had to no matter the cost; a look that Snow White herself knew very well.

He could feel her eyes on him watching every move he made and he liked it; had it been anyone else he would have felt uncomfortable, but Snow's eyes were a gentle caress over his face, his arms and his hands. He had never thought the talent that he had nurtured as a child would come to anything in the end, but when he had left the coronation and moved to this farmhouse he had picked up the wood again turning it in to cups, bowls and ornaments to sell at the market two towns over even though he didn't need the money. Soon he was being requested to make special order items and he began a small business, he found the wood himself cut it and moulded it and people paid him for the pleasure. The old man that had asked for this chess set had said he wanted something to remind him of the sea and that Eric had free reign on the design. It had taken him a week to create the board each tile was inscribed with the man's family crest which was formed of a trident and a compass and from there the idea of the pieces had taken on a life of their own. He would have the last of the knights finished that evening to take over to the old man early the next morning.

As the kitchen began to darken Eric looked up and saw that Snow had fallen asleep; he was loathe to wake her as she looked so peaceful, but he didn't want a full scale war on his hands if she was not returned to the palace.

"Snow?" he asked patting her arm trying to rouse her in the least violent way possible, but all she did was mumble under her breath and turn to the side. He looked at her face awash with the setting sun and drew in his breath. He knew that she hadn't just come to see if he was alive or downed in a lake of grog, she'd had another purpose in finding him. One that she had neglected to talk about all the time she had been sat there. He tenderly brushed her hair away from her face and leaned in. He knew he was taking advantage of her sleeping form, but if he had woke her the last time this way, it couldn't hurt.

He pressed his lips softly to hers and held the back of her neck gently tilting her head ever so slightly. Her eyes opened slowly almost lazily as her hand snaked up his arm to hold him back. When he pulled away she smiled. She could feel it now the warmth of his breath and the heat of his skin. It was familiar and necessary, it was the same feeling she'd had when she had woken up after eating the apple. She knew she had heard his voice echo in the tomb, but she hadn't dared hope that he had brought her back. Now though it was all so clear.

"It was you." She said softly not a question, but a simple statement of fact and Eric didn't know how to react. He'd always convinced himself that she had woken up on her own no matter what the clerk had said, but from the look in her eyes he knew he had been lying to himself. He was trying to convince himself that he was not worthy of her or anyone for that matter. Fumbling for words he simply blurted,

"I'll take you home." Snow wouldn't argue; she had been out considerably longer than she should have been, but she didn't know why he looked so worried. She was happy that he had been the one to wake her. She had always heard that true love was sacrifice and that only true loves kiss could break any spell. She knew that was what William had hoped when he'd kissed her in desperation willing her back to life, but when she had breathed in for the first time in hours she could taste the salt of tears on her lips as if someone had been mourning the loss of her on a personal scale. For Eric; coming undone in front of her was sacrificing his pride, even if she hadn't been aware. He had given up his guarded nature to bring her back.

He led her back to the stables and put her on her horse; she fell forward slightly and looked dangerously as if she were going to fall off. He unhitched his stallion and spoke to him softly,

"Boy, you are going to have to follow after me and the Princess," he said smiling a little at his slip up, she may be his Queen now, but on the inside she would always be the Princess. "So Adahy be good and don't wander too far away." Snow stirred in her saddle and with eyes glazed from sleep she asked,

"What did you call him?"

"Adahy, it means..."

"Lives in the woods." They said in unison; Eric looked confused for a second, but then his confusion was replaced by concern due to the flash of panic in Snow White's eyes.

"What is it?" he asked, moving towards her his horse a few steps behind. She mumbled a response her tongue thick from sleep,

"In my head when I race you that is the name of your horse, but it's only in my head; it wasn't supposed to be real." He held her hand and smiled,

"You've obviously forgotten the magic in your veins." He kissed her knuckles softly and walked to face her mere, "What is her name?" he asked placing his hand in her line of sight before he reached out to her,

"Ragnfridr," Snow replied her lids falling lower again as the blood red of the sun shone through the open stable door, "It means wise and beautiful in the old language." She finished and smiled softly at him.

"I think the name is rather apt." He said looking at the sleepy rider and her beautiful mere. He moved to take the saddle behind her so she wouldn't fall and she turned to look at him her lips just inches from his,

"Where did you hear of Adahy?" she asked twisting her fingers with his on the reign. He laughed and it was the most beautiful and warm sound that had ever fallen on her ears; not even the fairy music in the forest could come close to the sound of it.

"I was in the forest finding iron wood and ran across some of the natives, they named him for me. Before that he was just boy." Snow leant back in to his broad chest and he took Ragnfridr out of the stable with Adahy close behind. Snow White slept all the way back to the palace her head resting on the Huntsman's shoulder; when they reached the portcullis he woke her and slid off her horse back on to his. She looked at him her brown eyes pleading him to stay, but just like the races in her mind he never came with her under the portcullis.

He took her hand and kissed her palm softly before nodding to her and racing back across the beach the way he had just come. Just like that he vanished as if he had never been there at all.


	4. Chapter Three

She was sat in her chamber with sleep evading her now that she was away from Eric.

As her eyes wandered around her room they fell on the chess board that was set up in her morning room where William had been teaching her the rules of the game. She loved the strategy behind it; the idea that you had to play your opponent against themselves but she didn't ever have the patience to sit still and play the game. She walked over to the ancient Ironwood table and looked at how the game was set, she and William had sat down to a new game the previous morning and as she looked at the lay out she realised that once again William was going to simply let her win.

Anger flashed through her, she would like to be beaten at least once or genuinely beat him on her own merits. She picked up her Queen and turned the figure in her hands, it was exquisite; made by the royal craftsmen who were the best in the Kingdom, but it was cold and unfeeling.

The chess board was made for her coronation the white pieces were formed of her, William, Duke Hammond, the generals, the North Tower with the Dwarves as the pawns. On the other side of the board was Ravenna and Finn with the round mirror the supposed seat of her power, her dark knights and the throne with ravens as her pawns to make up the rest of the pieces; there was no Huntsman in sight as if everyone had forgotten he was even there. She felt that this had been William's doing as she had realised he was rather jealous of the older man. The chess set represented light conquering the dark and it should have made her happy that the battle that had taken so many of her people was immortalised so she could always remember it, but all she could think of was the warm soft wood, the care and love that Eric had poured in to his project. She placed the marble version of herself back on the board in the place she had taken her from and sat at the window looking out across her Kingdom a familiar pang of loneliness igniting in the pit of her stomach.

Turning away from the window she found a piece of parchment and hoping that Eric could actually read began to write him a small and compact note. When she had finished she passed it to the guard outside of her door and commanded him to take it to the farmhouse on the coast as soon as the sun rose. The guard gave her an odd look, but knew better than to ask questions of his Queen and agreed that he would do as he was bidden as soon as the sun rose and his watch shift ended.

After closing the door she thought over the uproar that had occurred once she had arrived back at the palace that evening. The Duke almost had a heart attack and William was furious. If she thought she was going to be away from the palace longer than a few hours she was supposed to mention it before she left so as not to cause a commotion. She had apologised and told the truth; that she didn't think she was going to stay away that long and that had she known she would have told both the Duke and William. She told them that time had slipped out of her hands and that no matter what; she was as safe with the person she had gone to meet as she would be in the palace.

Although Eric had left before the portcullis had been opened for her, from the look in William's eyes she knew he had seen Eric riding across the beach back to his house. She also knew that he wasn't happy with her rekindling this relationship. Not that it was any of his business. And it wasn't hurting anyone so what was the harm? Eric had put his life on the line to save her and the least she could do was act like he actually existed and meant something to her. She hadn't sworn the guard outside to secrecy, but she hoped that he would be discreet with her message for Eric as she didn't have enough energy to fight with William about it.

She paced her chambers thinking that maybe she should take the message back; it wasn't right for her to ask something of Eric. She didn't want him brought in to palace life as she had loved his house and the warmth in there. She thought of how he looked after all these months and had to admit to herself that he was indeed very handsome. His long straw coloured hair had been cut and he held it in a clasp at the base of his neck as he worked, his eyes had been crystal clear and the light grey had almost looked sky blue. His clothes were clean not a stain in sight; his leather vest was fitted and his pants just a little too long so they covered his boots.

It was his smile however that had caught her off guard the most. It was the tender look of it that she had only seen a hint of before the coronation. The warmth that resided in the upward turn of his lips made her heart beat just a little faster. The biggest change was how he smelt. Gone was the smell of dirt, grog and sweat; which she had oddly grown accustomed too when they had met and it wasn't as if she smelt any better after all the years locked in the North Tower. Now though he smelt of the earth after the rain, wood chips and wind tossed leaves, he was fresh, exciting and more than a little mysterious. She stopped pacing and picked up her gown that she had been wearing earlier that day it was splashed with sea salt and she could smell its bitter tang without raising the material to her nose, when she did she could smell him and with that she relaxed once more. With his scent fresh in her mind she lay down on her bed and sank in to a deep peaceful sleep.

The sun had barely reached the horizon as Eric saddled Adahy again getting him ready to take the chess board to the old man; he was just getting ready to leave when he saw a figure on the horizon a dark smudge making their way towards him. For a second his heart stopped thinking that it may be Snow White, but he quickly realised that there was no way that she would be leaving the palace this early without some sort of escort. As the rider got closer he saw that the man was in fact one of her banner men and that he must have been sent to see him on her orders.

Knowing that it had something to do with Snow he waited until he approached. The boy couldn't have been much older than the Queen herself and he didn't get off his horse instead he held out a slip of parchment to him; his brow furrowed as he asked,

"You are the Huntsman that lives in this farmhouse?" Eric nodded and the rider gave him the parchment, the script on the velum was beautiful full of curls and grace. He nodded his thanks to the rider who turned on his heels and headed back towards the palace almost echoing Eric's approach last night. He leant against the stable door and opened the parchment. Within the folds was a short and sweet message,

_Dearest Eric,_

_Your Queen commissions you to create a chess board for her amusement, you have free reign as to the theme that you choose. I am willing to pay whatever the going rate is to procure your craftsmanship. If you are willing to take up the commission I will send another messenger in two days to receive your response._

_Yours forever,_

_Snow White._

He laughed at the message, as if he could refuse her? He knew that she wouldn't punish him, but he also knew that he would regret it if he did not take her up the offer that had been given to him. He walked with Adahy across the field to the next village wondering why she would choose him to make her a chess board. He was sure that there were far more skilled craftsmen in the palace itself and he was sure that by now she must have had her fill of chess sets. Since it was a normal gift for a new ruler; they normally received at least one when they took the throne. What could he possibly do with ironwood and oak that the craftsmen at the palace couldn't do with marble and semi precious stones? If she had a chess set he was sure it would have been commissioned by the Duke and his wet faced whelp of a son and he knew that it would represent the battle against Ravenna. He also knew that he would be nowhere to be found on the board. It was best if they forgot the man that had sold the rebels to the Queen and stolen from them when he was desperate enough.

Even though people change, the perceptions of them are far harder to undo. Time heals all wounds, but rarely does it erase them Eric knew that sentiment well enough.

It took an hour for Eric to walk to the hamlet where the old man lived. He would have rode, but after the round trip to the palace the night before Eric thought he would let Adahy rest until he was too tired to walk and he could tell that his horse appreciated it. Eventually he came up to the small squat thatched cottage and knocked on the door; within seconds the old man opened it and bright eyes that hid the owners true age looked up at him from under thick bushy eyebrows.

"It would seem young Huntsman that cupid himself has shot you with his arrow."

"Sorry Thaddeus, I'm not entirely sure I follow." The old man smiled at him knowingly,

"If I am not mistaken young man, that is the face of a love sick pup." Eric felt himself scowl and that only made the old man laugh all the more.

"Do you want your chess board or not Thaddeus?" at that the old man sobered up and stepped backwards from the door, Eric took the satchel off the side of Adahy and bid his horse to stay in view of the cottage before he followed the old man inside.

"No need to get to tetchy," he said as he led Eric to the back of his house. "She must be quite the beauty to catch your eye though eh?" Eric didn't say anything, but from the bark of a laugh that left the old man's lips he didn't need too, his face told the whole story. "Ah to be young again." The old man said softly sitting down at a large table in front of a bay window. "Set it down here would you?" he asked Eric and he did as he was told. He took the board out of the satchel and as he laid it on the table he heard the sharp intake of breath from the old man, "How did you find out about this?" he asked letting his fingers trace across the lines of his family crest,

"Research," Eric said with a shrug, "Not that it was easy. Most of the old crests were lost when Ra... The Dark Queen took power." He had almost called her Ravenna out loud which was taboo. Most of the people in the kingdom thought that if they didn't speak her name out loud then the curse was gone; bringing up her name was only tempting fate, but since he had seen Snow White kill Ravenna himself he didn't feel fear. He also thought the people of the Kingdom were giving Ravenna more power in the afterlife by fearing her name in the way that they did.

"I know," The old man replied laying his hand over one of the squares his eyes brimming with tears of joy, "I never thought I would see this again. Thank you Eric." He said and Eric smiled. Before he started to sell his wares he could never understand how something someone else had made could make someone so happy. Now he understood and it made him proud to be able to give people back something they thought was lost. He took a carved Ironwood box out of the satchel next and placed it close to the board, on the box he had carved a ship tall and majestic like the ones that had once taken to the sea before Ravenna had forbidden sea trade cutting the Kingdom from all of the ones around it. The old man picked up the box and slid back the lid looking at the pieces inside. He took the pieces and set them on the board the tears of joy that he had kept back falling freely down his face. When the board was set he took Eric's hand in his own and squeezed it in gratitude.

"Thank you son," he said around a sob. "This is far more beautiful than anything I could have imagined." He motioned for Eric to sit and play a match with him, "Not even the craftsmen in the palace with all their marble and semi precious stones could have made a thing of this beauty." Eric looked at the older man shrewdly,

"What makes you say that old man?" he asked moving his pawn in response to the old man's first move and Thaddeus laughed,

"There is heart and life in your creations; I can feel it in my fingers as I touch the pieces. You understand the power in the earth and you don't try to tame it you use it. In the palace all they know is technique. They are flawless, but what is the point? People are flawed that is what gives us heart." Eric swallowed hard, he had never thought of it that way. Was Snow asking for a piece of his heart to be forever on display in the palace so that she would be near him even when she was so far away? Hoping against all hope that it was the reason he knew exactly what he was going to create for his queen.

Eric spent the rest of the afternoon at the old man's house being beaten repeatedly at chess; he may be able to make the boards and pieces, but he couldn't play it at all. It had never been something that he had time for or the patience even when he did have time. If he were honest when he did have the time he had been drunk off his ass and anything anyone said to him had riled up his spirit to fight so that he could be knocked unconscious so as to not have to think about Sara. The old man found it amusing that he was beating such a young man and Eric let him amuse himself with the idea it wasn't costing him anything. Eric finally left the old man's house just before dusk and rode Adahy home barely racing ahead of the dying light.


	5. Chapter Four

The two days had Snow White had given Eric to decide dragged on longer than any day in the North Tower ever had, she paced in the throne room, she paced in the dining room and she paced in her bed chamber. Anna, Greta and Rose were getting worried that she was going to wear holes in to the lush carpets in all the rooms she decided to traipse backwards and forwards in. They had asked her if she had found The Huntsman and the warm smile on her lips had been enough of a confirmation, so they had asked why she had returned alone; she had looked at them her wide brown eyes slightly haunted.

"He doesn't want to be tethered to these walls and I don't want him to be either." She had said quietly and the trio knew not to question their Queen anymore on the subject. As the sun set on the second day she sat in her chamber listlessly moving pieces around her marble chess board pondering what to do with herself.

She had been to three of the smaller villages that had survived the war somehow and brokered peace treaties with them showing them that she was nothing like the last Queen. She had set up the trading routes in and out of the Kingdom, but she knew it was going to be a long and hard uphill climb before she got anything tangible back for all the effort. She was making the foundations for tomorrow she knew that, but sometimes being 'the light bringer' was difficult. It almost seemed as if no matter how hard she tried she was only taking small pebbles off the side of a mountain that Ravenna had created; not blasting it apart the way she wanted to. It felt as if she was tiptoeing over eggshells instead of standing her ground. She looked in to the fire feeling morose again and there was a tentative knock on her door.

"Come in," she commanded and the door opened to reveal the guard she had sent to see Eric. He looked sheepishly at her and she beckoned him inside. "Did he give you a message to tell me?" she asked.

"No your Highness," Snow hoped the guard didn't notice that her shoulders fell in resignation, "but he did ask me to give you this." He brought a hand from behind his back and in it was a thick velum envelope. She grinned at the guard and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. She felt his skin flush and when she stepped back he raised his hand to his cheek in surprise.

"Thank you David." She said still smiling and David smiled dazedly back at her. He bowed to her and left his hand still on the cheek she had kissed trying to mask the red flush that started at the top of his breast plate and ended at the tips of his ears.

Snow White sat down at her little table and opened the envelope; inside there was a slip of parchment and what she thought must be the first chess piece. She placed the great oak tree that made up her family crest on the table top. She was about to read the letter that Eric had sent her in return when she noticed that it wasn't the normal oak tree from the family crest. It was true that its roots sunk in to the earth and that the top of the trunk was pointed in a cross to look like the crown, but there was something that her crest did not have, wrapped around the trunk was an intricate web of vines and flowers and she realised that Eric had wound a climbing rose around the tree trunk and every so often there was a delicate but beautiful rose on the vine. The beauty of it took her breath away. She picked it up and placed it on the table next to her bed. As she sat on the sheets she opened up the letter he had sent with the first piece.

_Dear Snow White,_

_I have thought over your request and I would be more than happy to comply with what you have asked of me. I only have one question, would this piece be the King or the Queen?_

_Your input on this matter would be most appreciated for I cannot finish the commission without this question being answered._

_Forever your humble servant,_

_Eric_

She looked at the piece on the table and then reached out for it turning it in her hand, it was obvious that it was supposed to be the Queen why else would he have wound a rose around its base. Was he teasing her? If he was teasing her it wasn't something new; he had teased her since the moment they had met. She fell back on her bed curling herself around the chess piece and fell asleep.

By the time Snow had replied Eric had almost finished all the pieces for the chess set, he just needed inspiration for the board itself. The Queen was the oak tree like the crest of her family that was now hers to bare, the King was a tall Ironwood tree with its branches reaching up like that of the oak, but unlike with a normal chess set where the Queen was either the same height as the King or smaller, the Queen in this set was taller her branches furling out higher than that of the king. The Bishops were shields with magpies emblazoned on them, the knights were stags with antlers that wove a web above their heads and the rooks were carved tree stumps with a hatchet in them. He had tried his hand at carving a troll to make them in to the rooks, but he had given up as the figure looked more like some demon golem. That and he thought his axe made a better defence than the beast that had tried to kill them. Lastly the pawns were dwarves with the white being the noble men they now are and he black being the thieves they were to stay alive. It was their story from the Dark Forest onwards, which was why it was so hard to choose the setting for the board. He had found the perfect wood for it, but could not bring himself to carve the final details with the pieces carved Eric thought it would be better to get some rest instead of staring at the board so left his tools and lay down to get some sleep.

The knock on the door was loud enough to wake him from a dead sleep and after unceremoniously falling out of bed; he walked to the door of the farmhouse and found the young man on his doorstep looking worse for wear.

"David come in, put your feet up." He said walking back to the table. David followed him inside closing the door behind him.

"You know it would be easier if you just moved closer to the palace." The young guard said his country accent thick on his words.

"That could work," Eric replied with a grin as he passed David a glass which he took gladly. "But where would the fun be in that?" David shook his head and tried to not smile as he placed his new quarry on the table. He had noticed that the Queen had become livelier as of late and he liked this new side to her. If it was because of this Huntsman he was glad; he had never really liked William the Duke's son anyway. He may have been a leader of the rebels, but before the Princess as she was then had joined them they were little more than thieves and little good their freedom fighting did. "Did she ask for a response?" Eric asked leaning back in his chair.

"She is away on business, but if you have a reply I will deliver it to her chamber so it will be there when she gets back." He told Eric in reply and David had noticed Eric flinch when he had mentioned the Queen being away on business.

"What is she doing?" He asked in a tone that was supposed to be light, but even David could hear the edge in it.

"She is down the mines with the Dwarves; they are trying to rebuild the shafts so that the mine can blossom again. Once the mine is up and running she is hoping to export the jewels and start bringing money back in to the Kingdom." David smiled, he was so proud of the Queen she was slowly, but surely rebuilding the Kingdom and turning it back to the thriving place it had once been before The Dark Queen had taken over the land killing all the beauty in it. Eric rocked forward on his chair laying the unopened envelope on the table.

"Do you know when she will be returning?" Eric asked his grey eyes intense and he watched David count the days off on his fingers.

"I think the party will be away for another seven days." He replied before taking a drink of the ice cold water; Eric nodded and ran his hand lovingly over the thick parchment that was only entitled Huntsman.

"Okay, good." He said under his breath as if he were talking to himself, "Will it be okay for me to visit the palace in say... five days?" David looked puzzled, but nodded.

"Of course, you have been given full access to the palace whenever you want, you do not need to be invited." Eric's eyes clouded over for a second and David couldn't read the man, but as soon as the dark cloud had appeared in front of his eyes it was gone and he stood putting his hand out to David,

"Thank you David for all your help, I will see you in five days." David stood up and took the Huntsman's hand in his own and shook it firmly. With that he left the Huntsman to read his letter and whatever else the man did when he wasn't sending the Queen letters in return.

When the door had closed behind David, Eric sat back down at the table and picked up the thick envelope his heart beating like that of a teenager. The erratic beat of it made him think of the day in which he had met Sara at the market; she had ridiculed his outfit and the morose look on his face and when she smiled it had lit up the surrounding area, seeing that smile and hearing that laugh of hers had made his heart beat in the same way as thinking about Snow White did, even if the only thing of hers that he could own were her letters. The Kingdom now had her heart. Not that he would ever admit to wanting to have a claim on it.

_Dearest Eric,_

_Are you seriously asking me if the piece you were so kind to send me was the King or the Queen? Because I think it was apparent that you had answered the question with the roses making their way up the oak tree. It is very beautiful, just so you know. You have exceeded my expectations._

_I am travelling with Muir and the other Dwarves to their mine to see if there is anything that myself and the Kingdom can do to make it easier for them to restart their efforts down there and I can only assume by the time you get this letter there will still be a week before I am back at the palace._

_You were right by the way, the Dwarves don't only see the beauty in the earth; they saw the beauty in my heart and in yours. Not that I can imagine you care. I am almost certain that you believe your heart is passed saving. On that account I can assure you that you are wrong._

_I miss you,_

_Yours forever,_

_Snow_

He sighed and folded the letter in half before putting it with the other letter in the pantry inside an empty flour jar. She had to know that it was not an ideal situation her falling in love with a commoner, when there was Prince material right next to her; Prince material that lived in the palace with her, who knew the right fork to use at banquets, who could converse with the people in her world. If she was with him, she could converse with the drunks and the gutter snipes; not really the proper company for the Queen. He knew that she would never be his; she could no longer belong to one person and that made him mourn for her, without her having to die first this time.

He picked up the board and knew what he was going to carve on the squares and he knew that he could manage it in five days; if he didn't really sleep. He picked up his knife and chisels and began to do the scroll work across the glistening wood that he had buffed to a high polish while he had been debating what should go on the Queen's board. He worked without a break until his hands were sore and cramped so much that he could no longer hold his tools. It was only then that he slept and that was only until the aches in his bones had soothed and he began the work again. It was tiring, but he knew in the end it would be worth it. He had realised that there was almost nothing he wouldn't do for Snow White and this had to be ingrained in the very wood he was carving.


	6. Chapter Five

As he reached the portcullis on the fifth day he felt nervous, what if David had lied and he wasn't allowed in. What would he do then? After the thought had crossed his mind he realised he needn't have worried because at the sound of his name the portcullis was raised and he was taken in to the palace right to the Queen's bed chamber; without any questions being asked. When David pushed him through the door he felt as if he were intruding on Snow's deepest secrets the bed chamber of the Queen was no place for a commoner such as himself, but what choice did he have? Standing just inside the door he saw the morning room with the chess set on the table. He had been right it was perfect, but Thaddeus was right it was flawless and for a girl who had been locked in a tower for ten years, flawed was what she was; beautiful he would openly admit, but fundamentally flawed. He had a feeling that as happy as she had been at receiving the gift she really disliked it deep down, like she would have hated the funeral gown and the fact that her 'death' had sent him back to hard drinking.

He looked at the board and he saw that she was winning, but also that her opponents heart was not in it, he was letting her win. Something else that he knew Snow would hate. She didn't need to be constantly praised; she would far prefer to earn the respect than be given it freely. He had learnt that early on when he had taught her how to fight. The idea had then been cemented in his mind when she had taken down Ravenna and her final words to her stepmother had been,

_Hope never dies._

The words stung him and he could feel his breath catch; he wouldn't admit it, but he hoped she truly believed that because she would need hope in the end, if what he believed she felt was true. He picked up the marble chess set and moved it to a shelf on a bookcase in the corner of her chamber. He then grabbed his satchel and took out the board laying it on the table at an angle between the two prospective players so the light from the windows hit the engraving in a certain way. He then took out the box for the pieces, this he had carved from the darkest wood he could find it was oblong with a hinged lid; the clasp was made up of a heart on the base and a dagger on the top that slid in behind the heart when the box was closed. The story of the board couldn't just be about the pair of them, because without Ravenna and her hunt for Snow's heart they would never have met and Snow wouldn't have saved him from himself. So it would seem that not everything Ravenna had done had ended in tragedy. He opened the box and lined the pieces in their formations on the board. Last but not least he placed his letter in the box and closed the lid hiding it from the world.

He took one last look around her room and smiled; unlike her the room was simple. He could tell it was the place where she would rest her head and do little else. Even though he knew this was the case it didn't stop him from sitting and imagining her pacing in front of the hearth after a particularly difficult day, or sitting playing chess with who he could only assume was William and trying not to hit him for letting her win again. He looked around the room for the missing piece so he could complete the set, but it was nowhere to be found. His heart jumped to his throat as he wondered if she had taken the piece with her down the mines.

It wouldn't be the first thing he had given her that she had used as protection, as far as he knew she still had the bone charm that Sara had given him for protection. He felt warmth settle over him that was so completely different to that of the warmth alcohol had given him when he was still drinking. The warmth from the alcohol has been hollow and only temporary, so very fleeting; this warmth he could feel zinging along every nerve ending; his body fully possessed by it.

Before he stayed in the palace longer than he would have liked Eric left as quietly as he had entered and instead of heading to the farmhouse he headed straight in to the woods deciding it was time for a hunt to clear his head.

When Snow White arrived back at the palace after her visit to the mine she was exhausted, she had never felt this tired before, not even when she was running for her life from Finn and Ravenna had she felt the ache of exhaustion this deep in her bones. She was carried to her chamber by one of her guards and he placed her on her bed without a second thought,

"Thank you," she murmured her body instantly relaxing in to the soft plush pillows behind her head,

"Is there anything else you require?" He asked her politely,

"Not tonight, thank you." She said again and he bowed leaving her in peace. She rolled on to her side letting her heavy eyes close, but as they did she noticed that the coffee table in the morning room looked different, the cold hard marble chess board had been changed. She took the first Queen from a fold in her dress and ran her fingers over the grain for what must have been the millionth time feeling energy surge through her fingers almost like the piece had a pulse of its own. She wearily sat up in bed, but the chamber was too dark to fully make out all the details on the chess board.

She had a choice she could wait for the morning or she could find out now what Eric had made for her. She debated it and decided that she couldn't wait, she had been patient enough for ten years and she was allowed to be impatient now and again.

She pushed herself off the bed and stumbled with heavy legs to the morning room. She sat heavily on one of the chairs; taking a match from a nearby box she lit the candle that sat on the table and looked at the board. To put it simply it was beautiful. Around the edge of the tile squares there was scroll work that threaded together mushrooms, tree branches, roses, apples, birds and arrows. Each of the alternate playing squares had mapped areas of their journey; the simple contours of the land, the troll bridge, the marsh, the mountains, the dark forest, the fairy wood, the courtyard at Carmathan, the rock labyrinth on the beach outside and the throne room. From the way the candle light flickered she could tell he had put care in to the way the shadows would play over the blank squares and it took her breath away. Why couldn't the Duke have gotten her a set like this in the first place? She would admit it wasn't perfect; it was flawed not every piece was exactly the same, but there was so much life in the pieces that it looked as if any minute they would make their way across the board on their own.

She leant back in the chair and placed the final Queen on the board smiling softly. She couldn't have asked for a better gift or piece of art. She ran her hands over one of the rooks losing the tips of her fingers in the knots of the wood and way he had made a knot look like the age rings of the sturdy tree his hatchet was supposedly cutting. Snow ran her hand across the high glossed surface of the board and then she saw the box and bit down on a laugh. She knew that he would have to tease her with one item and it was the storage for the pieces, not that she ever wanted to put them away. She could imagine Ravenna opening it to see her heart inside it and the glee that would have passed over her face. She placed her hand over her heart feeling each beat thump softly against her hand and was once again thankful that Eric had a conscience and hadn't let her be killed that day in the Dark Forest. She slipped the dagger out from behind the heart and opened the box revealing a letter placed securely inside. She pulled it out and read it her eyelids heavy, but happy.

_Dear Snow,_

_I hope this letter finds you happy at the commission that you asked me to provide. As to the payment for the set you owe me nothing. Seeing you happy would be payment enough._

_You will always know where to find me._

_Love as always,_

_Eric._

Her throat closed, she didn't understand, he had chosen to sign off the letter with 'Love as always,' but had told her that seeing her happy would be payment enough; was the love just that of a loyal subject? Once again he had managed to aggravate her without even being present. How was it that he always managed to crawl under her skin and leave her in an almost sweet agony?

She was too tired to try and write back to him, but then she remembered that she was being given the day off after the visit to the mines for some rest before she went on to broker another peace treaty with yet another village elder in the marshlands. She would ride to his farmhouse at first light and demand an answer. She needed to know for sure how he felt.

If she loved him (which she did) and if he loved her (which seemed possible) why were they both making it difficult and avoiding the simplest outcome? She was the Queen if she wanted to marry the Huntsman who saved her; no one was going to stand in her way. With that resolve she fell asleep with Eric's vague letter on her pillow.


	7. Chapter Six

Since Snow had risen to the throne the land had come alive, the Dark Forest had become less terrifying and the animals in other quarters thrived. So it hadn't taken Eric long to find the trail of a buck that would suit his needs. He and Adahy had followed the sprightly animal to the stream almost two miles in to the forest and Eric had taken the animal down without it knowing pain. Instead of taking the carcass home to prepare as his father had always shown him, Eric stayed inside the forest and did as the natives had once taught him. The natives had been hunting in the forests and farming in the fields long before any King built the palace on the cliff. They knew that life was precious and that you needed to respect what you had hunted.

Eric said a small prayer over the body of the buck and began to strip away the hide which he would take home to make into a new jacket for the winter; then he took the meat separating it in to piles for different purposes. The natives had taught him that everything that an animal could provide was special and that when you were done with the animal for your purpose the animal bones and scraps that you could not use would be perfect for the scavengers of the forest; who were continually hungry. It had taken him less than a day to hunt the buck, but it had taken far more than that to prepare the meat and make his way out of the forest; not that he minded the work gave him time to think about anything other than Snow White.

When he rounded his farmhouse he was surprised at what he saw, she was the last person he expected to see sat on his stoop in the pouring rain.

At the sound of breaking twigs she looked up and she couldn't help the smile that curved her lips. The Huntsman was a mess and he had never looked more perfect. His hair was plastered to his head from the rain, his clothes were splashed with mud and what Snow hoped was animal blood as she couldn't see any wound; as he expelled his breath it came out as a thick fog in the cold air and when he saw her he froze for a minute.

"My Queen," he said eventually bending a knee with his head bowed avoiding her eyes as much as possible,

"You're a mess Huntsman." She said softly pulling her wet hair away from her face,

"And I don't want to be fixed," He replied just as softly, at that Snow White stood up and stalked towards him,

"Who said anything about fixing you?" she asked her voice barely reigning in the anger that had risen in her. Eric finally looked up at her and saw pain in her wide brown eyes,

"No one, Your Highness, but I have had a lot of time in the last few days to think. I just needed to say that I do not want to be fixed; I am a broken man and I like being that way." For a moment Snow was worried that he had started to drink again; if he had this would have been a wasted journey as she was not going to argue with him in that state. Then she looked in to his eyes again and saw they were perfectly clear, and all she could smell coming off him was the rain and the earth. She sighed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest hugging herself to stay warm,

"I don't want to fix you." She said finally and smiled.

Eric had seen the moment of worry pass over Snow's face and he knew immediately what she had thought, he had seen that look on her face each time he had drank when they had first met. Her concern was as touching as it was annoying; but he could understand it, he hadn't really explained himself to her. While he had been out tracking the buck he'd had time to think and he had come to the conclusion that as much as he loved Sara, she wouldn't want him to be lonely and unhappy anymore than she would have wanted him to drink himself into an early grave. However he had to set some ground rules. He was never going to become a young lord, he knew that without trying. He was always going to want to live at the farmhouse on the edge of the forest and he would take as many minutes with Snow as he was allowed whether it was only a few in passing or hours when she was free or days when her delegations were done.

When she had told him she didn't want to fix him, she hadn't been lying; he sighed and let go of Adahy's reigns letting him find shelter in the barn from the rain that wouldn't stop falling from the sky.

He knew he should take Snow White inside and have her warm herself by the fire as her blouse was soaked through as was her velvet jacket, her leather boots would keep her feet dry, but the fabric encasing her legs was so wet that it clung to her thighs, but he couldn't bring himself to go inside and it didn't seem like Snow White had any more inclination to head indoors either.

"The last thing I would try to do is fix you." She said again her voice stronger than before as a shiver passed over her delicate frame. Eric watched as she took in a deep breath, "If I fixed you; you would no longer be the man that I..." she stopped for a second not sure if she should go on. Eric took a step forward so she didn't have to shout over the rain,

"I would no longer be the man that you... what Princess?" He said with a tender smile making her breath catch. Instead of finishing the sentence she ran the last few paces between them and crashed in to him wrapping her arms around his neck holding him tight and never wanting to let go. "I'm not entirely sure that you answered my question." He took in a breath to carry on talking, but Snow covered his lips with hers and silenced him with her searing heat. Kissing the Queen was far different to kissing Sara. Since both the women were worlds apart, but as Snow White moulded her lips to his he was as drunk as he had ever been with Sara and far more intoxicated than he had ever been even with the best grog and with this feeling Eric would willingly never be sober again. When they separated Eric looked into Snow's face and saw the flush in her cheeks and the puffy nature of her blood red kiss swollen lips and smiled.

"Are you sure?" he asked her cupping her face in his hands. "What I mean to say is; you have a Prince Charming living in the castle that I know for a fact is in love with you." Snow wrinkled her nose in the way that had first made Eric take a second look at the girl who was much younger than he was. It was that facial expression that he had found adorable and with it had tried to quash the feeling it brought forth. He almost laughed now, that it hadn't worked at all, by that point she had already mystified him.

"He is in love with the girl I used to be when the pair of us were still children. I am not that girl anymore and he is not that boy I used to chase." Eric's brow furrowed and his hands fell on to Snow's shoulders,

"You know that isn't the best way to get a man to say yes." He rubbed his thumb in circles over her pulse point, "Telling the man you want that there was another that you used to dream about," Snow wrinkled her nose again and shook the rain out of her hair.

"I didn't mean it like that." She said fumbling over her words. "I was trying to say that although thoughts of him had got me through my days in the tower, once I was free and I had seen him again, he was no longer the man I thought he was. Or the man I wanted... What he desires and what I desire are not the same..." she paused for a second trying to find the right words, "I'm not saying this right at all..." she ran a hand over his face feeling the stubble under her palm and tried to concentrate, she had planned this all out, but now that he was here and so close she had no idea what to say.

"What are you trying to say Snow?" he asked his voice hushed as he put his lips to her ear. She took a deep breath,

"There was a reason why William's kiss didn't break the dark magic." She said trying to keep her voice level, "For true loves kiss to work it not only has to be a sacrifice it has to be reciprocated or so I have been told." Eric laughed softly as if he had been caught out,

"At that moment I would have done anything to bring you back, I felt I had failed you terribly." Snow kissed his cheek,

"It was my fault I was led in to the wood by William." Eric froze and Snow could feel him pulling her in closer, "I should say who I thought was William." He loosened his grip so he was no longer hurting her. "I was tricked, but if it hadn't been for you, she would have had my heart right there and then." She laid her hand on top of his that was still on her neck. "Even if she had taken my heart then, she wouldn't have had it." She continued to say with a playful smile on her lips. "I think even then it had belonged to someone else; his name is also very appropriate for the position." She laid her head against his chest and he placed a kiss on the crown of her head.

"It would seem that someone has been doing some research of her own." He said playfully Snow glanced up to look at him from under her long eyelashes.

"I was interested in names, I was trying to find the best one for my mere," She said with a smile curving her lips.

"And you thought Eric was the best name for a female?" Knowing she was caught her face flashed red with the deepest of blushes, "I didn't think so," he murmured kissing the crown of her head again. While they had been talking they had forgotten about the rain, but now that they were still the pair of them could feel the ice cold fingers of water running rivulets across their clothes.

"Let me see to Adahy," Eric murmured "and then we'll go inside and get you dry." He turned from her slightly and she took his hand, "What sort of host am I letting the Queen get wet?" Snow laughed at that and leant in to the taller man letting him shelter her from the rain,

"I think you are the sort of host that knows exactly what the Queen wants and lets her have it." Eric squeezed her hand and even without looking at him she knew he was smiling.

"Check," he said as they walked in to the stable briefly sheltering from the rain, Snow laughed again and danced on tiptoe across the hay,

"I think I have the winning move," she said as she danced closer to him her wet hair swaying like a glossy version of the night sky,

"Are you sure about that?" Eric asked putting his hatchets on the wall where they belonged before walking to Adahy,

"Yes I am." Snow said and tapped him on the shoulder, he turned to her and she kissed him again. "Check mate," she said against his lips and even though he didn't want to admit it, she had him beat fair and square.

_AN: When making up the chess board I needed the most simple version of a box that was somehow linked, so if the design seems familiar then that is because it is the one that the Evil Queen gives the Huntsman in the Disney movie. You can actually get lacquered chests in that shape!_

_The names of characters in this story are of great importance, Eric can mean 'eternal ruler or Prince' oi oi! William can mean 'desire and protection' so pretty apt those names be!_

_The old man is called Thaddeus because it is Aramaic for 'heart' and it is he who makes Eric take a chance on his heart._

_I really enjoyed writing this and well it made me want a personalised chess board even though I am awful at the game._

_I hope you enjoyed it too. xx._


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